Carbonaceous sorbents alongside an optimized magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) towards enrichment of crude Paclitaxel extracts from callus cultures of Taxus baccata

•Carbonaceous sorbents and Fe3O4NPs@GOwereusedforper-purificationoftaxol.(*).•Fe3O4NPs@GO was the superior sorbent to enhance impurities removal and taxol purity.•The sorption capacity and magnetism of Fe3O4NPs@GO were high, even upon several runs.•MSPE could be a fast and reusable method for taxol enrichment, prior to HPLC.•RSM can be used to get optimum condition of various criteria in MSPE-based studies.

Here, a number of synthesized and commercial nano-sorbents including graphene (G), multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT), graphene oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and magnetic nanoparticles anchored on GO (Fe3O4NPs@GO) followed by graphite (Gt) powder were employed for paclitaxel pre-purification from callus culture-derived extract of Taxus baccata. Based on our preliminary work, rGO and Fe3O4NPs@GO exhibited the maximum potential, not only to remove impurities, but also to ameliorate taxol purity. According to the results of response surface methodology (RSM) developed for the superior nano-sorbent (i.e., Fe3O4NPs@GO), for both proposed quadratic polynomial models, statistically substantial relationships obtained between the actual and predicted values (‎p < 0.0001‎). Furthermore, both agitation power and sorbent dosage compared to the sorption temperature exhibited more efficacies on the two responses of interest [i.e.‎, efficiency of calli-derived pigments removal (ECPR‎) and efficiency of taxol purity (ETP‎)]. Based on the results of simultaneous optimization to attain the highest ratio of ECPR‎ (‎‎‎96.35%) and ETP‎ (‎‎‎30.60‎‎ %), the values of 29.9 g/L, ‎‎‎‎29.6‎‎ °C and ‎‎‎165.5‎‎ rpm were respectively predicted for sorbent dosage, sorption temperature and agitation power, and subsequently certified through experimental rechecking survey. Remarkably, the sorption capacity and magnetism feature of the magnetic nano-sorbent remained nearly constant, even upon nine consecutive treatments. Considering the results as a whole, the combination of magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) using the current Fe3O4NPs@GO nano-sorbent and RSM can be recommended as a simple, cost-effective and fast route for sorbent-assistant pre-purification investigations of paclitaxel.